Assassin's Creed Memory Block 6, Chapter I
by La Lune qui est Sortie du Ciel
Summary: As Altair travels to Jerusalem to assassinate Robert de Sable, he accounts for, in his own perspective, the obstables that face him. Please read and review this. I would like to know if this short story was well-written and get some feedback. Thank you.


Assassin's Creed – Memory Block 6, The Assassination of Robert de Sable

Chapter I

Plot, ideas, and certain phrases and lines are from Ubisoft Montreal's best-selling video game _Assassin's Creed_

(The Hashashins)

A.D. 1191

Written by: Jason H. M. Ng

It was going to be my final task for Al Mualim before I was going to be able to fully regain his trust. His trust was what I thought I wanted, but no more now, at least not his. But that story is for another day, another time. Now is the time for something else. My final task – final assassination – for my master was one I had awaited for quite some time. He had spoken to me in his bold wisdom, "Only Robert de Sable stands between us and our goal." His words and wisdom and his blade were what I believed to be the one and only truth in this world. So I heeded to his commands. But I would have done the killing for him even if he had not ordered it. Robert de Sable had to die. Al Mualim had taught me not to hate my enemies because hatred only clouded judgement, and I understood why he would have said so because I agree with him. But it was difficult to apply this theory to Robert. He was not only the last obstacle between the Assassins and our goal, but was also the man who had humiliated me and ridded my friend of his arm and brother – but that had to do with my original arrogance. Oh but now, that's also for another day. Now we speak of my journey to Jerusalem for the last time.

I raced out of Masyaf after the orders of Al Mualim and rode my horse out of the city's vicinity. Jerusalem was where I first met Robert de Sable, and also where I thought that I would meet him again, and for the second and last time. I felt my body hiccupping up and down as my black horse carried me across the Holy Land. I flew in the air as she leaped across the fences and rocks of the terrain. I was finally in the kingdom when the image of Robert appeared in my mind again. I unknowingly slowed my horse down to grasp the memory of him and how this was supposedly my final task for my great master. I was so close to finally regaining my status and being a high-ranked member of the Brotherhood, throughout the process, having had learned much.

Then as I regained composure, I realized that I had slowed my pace. Thus, I sped my horse in the direction of Jerusalem. I had been travelling to that city so many times that it was unnecessary for me do heed the directions of the stone signs scattered across the land. The wooden homes and villages and villagers were quickly passing by me, so quickly that my eyes were unable to catch them all. Everything within my vision was at such a great speed, but I cared not for the blindness. The only thing I cared of was the spot that my eyes were not blinded to – my destination. In what was usually much longer than a short trip was what seemed to be the passing of a much shorter trip than the already short trip I had imagined it to be. And then I stopped.

Its great walls stood before me. They intimidated my size with its greatness and population within its boarders. But it and its people will soon see me not as a normal by-passer to be a simple target of intimidation. My works of art will be remembered. I knew this. I was at Jerusalem.

I slowed down my horse so that attention would not have been centred on me. There was a very long line of at least 200 men travelling upwards away from the city as I was approaching it. I did not know where they planned to go, but I suspected that it was for the treacherous work being done in the city of Acre. The comrades of Robert de Sable committed inhumane acts of all sorts, but Robert was the one who leaded these monsters and unified them as a single power. Without him by the side of the Templar Knights would be like the world with no God – chaos would befall their kind and that was precisely our goal. Peace was impossible with these entities.

Within some time, I had traversed far beyond the line of men. The city loomed at my presence, but I cared not. My attention was captured by the four stationary guards at the entrance of the city through its front façade. I knew that if I rode my horse any faster than a walking man, I would be in trouble if the guards were present, and so I descended from her.

A successful assassination always incorporated the use of diversions and other illusionary tactics. This was what our clan was based upon. No, no. This was what the world was based upon. Illusions! They're all illusions, all of them! And Robert de Sable was the greatest one at that time, or so I thought. And entering Jerusalem was the first step to his death.

I spotted a lone guard walking around in his routinely fashion, quite some distance away from the city. And so I murdered him. Quickly and silently as an eagle hunts its prey. The only difference was that I used no beak – I used a blade. One that was hidden under my arm. One that I had lost my finger in order to obtain.

Had I had any hatred for the guard I killed? No, definitely not. But he was the diversion – the illusion! Not for me, but for those four menacing men at the entrance of the city. With his death, although silent, obviously laid on the ground, all four guards had come to inspect the scene. And with that, Jerusalem invited me within its walls. Of course I entered. I needed not be rude and decline such a generous invitation.

The city was a maze. Guards – Templars, were trying to camouflage with the hordes of people, but were definitely not doing a good job at it. Giant capes robes and metal helmets were not the appropriate wardrobe of choice. But I on the other hand, I was a blade in the crowd. The city saw a monk in white, praying, when their eyes laid upon me.

As regulations had it, my first destination within the city was the Assassins' Bureau. The Bureau leaders, all of which were at the same status as I in the Brotherhood, kept the Bureau area and awaited assassins from Masyaf, aiding them with locating their targets. The main hub in which all sections of the city were connected to was at the entrance beyond the front façade. There was a fountain in the centre of the hub with two women benched and chatting on the side. More women were walking around the cobbled streets, balancing in their hands on their heads vases, while men were carrying crates with goods. Although this main hub was within the rich district with gorgeous buildings and fanciful ornamentations, the people were all in rags. Only the guards appeared to be well dressed (well, considering this was an era of war between the Crusades and Muslims). What was probably invisible to most people was a small alley between two church towers. There was no one there.

I approached it and slipped inside undetected. I took a breath and felt the rush of an eagle's fury. As the magnificent predator's spirit entwined with mine, the world had made a 90 degree rotation, the church's vertical wall was the horizontal ground as I made my steps, and when the world had rotated back, I was on shingles.

From this high roof of the church, I was able to see the Dome of the Rock, the hundreds of guard posts thin and tall all around the city like thorns on a cactus, but most importantly, I could see the Assassins' Bureau. Although small and probably only thought to be a flower shop by many, an Assassin such as I was able to spot the unique symbol of the "Assassin's Creed" carved on the roofed entrance. The accidental discovery of the Assassins' Bureau would greatly harm the secrecy of our organization and placing the opening high above any citizens on the roof was ingenious and efficient.

There were three buildings before me, all of which were at relatively the same height as the church I was on. The gap between me and the three roofs was the width of the street, but that was no gap. I had only needed to make the effort of taking one step in order to soar to the other side. My robe, being split into two sections, embraced the wind's flow and what the street saw was the shadow of not me, but an eagle as I crossed it from high above.

And as my sprint was to half its full speed, another gap attempted to engulf me, but the eagle would have never allowed for that because the moment I was about to fall to my death, I was relieved from the burden of gravity with my soaring jump. Without any effort, the Assassins' Bureau became closer and closer, and my jumps became longer and more perilous. But I felt no peril below me, no death around the corner. I was making no effort, remember?

Slithering vines were covering the Assassins' Bureau's entrance on the roof. A camouflage technique perhaps – an illusion. The opening was large and rectangular with the Creed's "AC" symbol below it. I entered and dropped to the floor, surprised to see a carpet, laid neatly with beautiful embellishments. There was also a miniature fountain positioned at the far wall with an opened doorway to the left.

Malik was staring at me as I entered the main space within the Bureau. He coldly watched me, burned my heart with his expression, and pierced my eyes with his. His left sleeve was not there. In fact, his left arm was not there either. Neither was his brother dearest. I was truly sorry for what had happened to him, but I knew he wanted my life more than my apologies.

Malik's words were cruel. The man had stated that my presence eliminated both safety and peace. What cruel words, I say again! But he believed his words to be suitable towards me. Because if he did not, he would not have continued to rudely question the purpose of my presence. I told his the simple truth – our master Al Mualim had ordered that Robert de Sable is to meet the Gates of Hell. Malik treated me as a dog, a man's pet. After having me tolerate a long lecture, he unwillingly handed me an eagle's feather of the Assassin's Creed. It was a custom for us to soak the blood of our victims with this feather after each assassination to prove that the target has been slain.

He ordered my departure of the Assassins' Bureau and not only did not tell me the location of Robert, but gave me no clues but to simply investigate amongst the crowd. I left, believing that I had no longer needed to listen to Malik's pointless, time-wasting words and allowed to adrenaline of the eagle to flush my mind of his blabbering. There were two ledges under the roofed entrance of the Bureau. In order to exit, I leaped for the first ledge with my left hand, hung on, and reached for the second with my right. My feet were now on the first ledge, and all I had to do was push. The wind blew across my face as I appeared above the entrance.

The busiest marketplace in the city was where I expected most of my investigation should have taken place. It was going to be my most abundant source of information and knowledge from the people of the city itself. I wanted not to attract any more attention since I was not in a hurry to enter the marketplace as I was to reach the Bureau. Once I had my instructions and lead, things began to ease on my part. Across from the Bureau entrance I stood before was a ladder leading to the streets. I descended it slowly, hoping that I would not catch too many eyes in the process as my mind worked to sooth the eagle to sleep. I needed not me loud, but subtle.

I was still within the rich district, and still would have been when I reached the market. The merchants' yells and announcements of what they were selling and their available bargains were not only not bothersome, but they aided me in diverting attention elsewhere than towards an innocent monk such as me. I walked near the walls of the elegant buildings and allowed the small groups of people at each merchant stand to browse their items without disturbance. Then slowly when I passed a busy area of the street, the number of citizens decreased, the streets became less packed, and I was granted more freedom automatically.

In accordance to memory, I managed to muster an image of the marketplace's location in my mind. The street I walked on ended and what lay before me was an intersection of another pair of streets. I was to follow the right path through another collection of merchants and then follow it until I could see a guarded area with a roof. That was the marketplace. Finding it was no problem as usual, but getting in required more finesse.

My arrival to the market's opening came quick. The entire city's map plan was something that I almost had by heart, save a few small corridors. I was a small and insignificant piece within a bustling plaza of endless hordes of noblemen, monks, citizens, merchants, guards, and beggars, approaching and retrieving. I was able to see high and narrow roof shielding sections of multiple roads, and within those sections were spaced utilized specifically for shops and stands and people whose wisdom I desired – the marketplace. Dressed in thick, short, and red robes were three guards standing as still as statues, separating me from the area of knowledge. I was in need of a plan.

Scanning the area high and low in all degrees, I was unable to focus on anything because of the noxious colours of the crowd – yellow, orange, brown, purple, green, tan, beige, red, blue, magenta, peach, white…white? Did I find my solution? White was not a colour, and thus it was not a distraction. White was the small group of scholars gathered and praying around a small door that I saw as my clones in clothing. White was I.

I knew those men, saw their faces before and they recognized mine as well. I had saved their father from a few Templar Knights who had been harassing him endlessly and steeling his money during my last visit to Jerusalem. What coincidence it is for me to find them. They greeted my presence with smiles and waves like I was a long-lost brother. I said not much because I was in a hurry and in need of their help. I told them of the investigations I needed to perform within the marketplace and how the guards were not welcoming. They understood quite quickly and surrounded me, placing me in the centre of their small crowd. I, clothed in a cloak of white, had changed my identity within the group. And due to the nature of the scholars' work, they were permitted access to many areas forbidden to the normal citizen. Ah, what a satisfying feeling it was to see those moronic knights move apart, just so that a "scholar" such as I could enter the busy marketplace to execute an investigation.

The group of kind men lead me into a small cranny in a wall obscured by two large poles. They wished me luck in whispering voices and I too thanked them silently. The area in which they had dropped me off was quite barren with almost no people. But around the corner of the wall, I was hearing the voices of hundreds of men and women who were bargaining with merchants, speaking of their families, and complaining about their husbands or wives. This was the true heart of Jerusalem.

I exited from my position and retracted my head under my hooded, white cloak. I avoided any groups of people that crossed my path by travelling around them. I did not want to risk attracting attention to my position, and that was likely to occur if I pushed my way too roughly through the clusters of citizens. It would have been even more disastrous if I had stumbled into a pottery-carrying woman. She would probably lose her balance, drop her load, and I would have to either explain myself to her or to guards (I did not wish for guards to even see my face, let alone converse with me). Or I would have had to assassinate her on the spot, immediately, both of which I had no interest in doing.

But I must not have allowed myself to be distracted from my task by the people of the city. They were only the stones that attempted to trip me in the path I treaded. My true objective, I was still in the midst of figuring out as to whom I should search for, but that was foolish of me. Obviously the only men who knew much intelligence and were close to Robert de Sable on the every-day-basis were his own men, the Templar Knights. Knights of God, they call themselves. Crusaders who have given birth to the Crusades. A crusade for what? Pain and death and suffering? I was now in search for a knight of this kind.

And surely, the man ahead of me who had been accused of pick-pocketing a merchant had invited a Templar Knight to his position.

I acted calmly and approached the scene of trouble. There was a small circle of men and women surrounding a man in the centre who happened to be claiming his innocence, a bloated merchant who was accusing the man of treacherously trying to steal his gold from his money sack, and lastly, the one whom I had hoped to see.

The Templar was helmeted in red, dressed in chainmail and a white cape with a red cross, and armed with a sword, similar to mine, expect for the fact that it was swinging in the open on the side of his body and mine was hidden in the secrecy of my cloak. The knight seemed rather confused about the situation and did not know who to side with. But I was able to tell that he believed the merchant more than the man. Probably was a greedy and nasty knight who had planned to ask the merchant for a tip if he had helped mark the accused man as guilty. I gently pushed those beside me and made it to the centre of the circular group of viewers. I allowed two members of the crowd in front of me to stay in their positions because they were responsible for blending me with the crowd from the eyes of the Templar. If I had acted suspiciously placed right in front of the knight, well, let us just say that my job needed not an audience.

And as I would have guessed, the Templar Knight decided to search the man's body to see if he had any money on him that could have belonged to the merchant. The knight demanded to search the small pocket the man had on his waist and what he found was five gold coins. Obviously lying, the merchant blurted out that the coins had definitely belonged to him, and obviously purposely siding with the merchant, the Templar snatched the five coins from the man, pushed him to the floor, kicked his stomach, and yelled into his face for stealing, followed by a spit on his chest.

The merchant and the knight walked away from the fallen man and the crowd (currently in shock for what the knight had done) fearfully opened a space for the two to leave. I turned and watched the both of them meticulously. As I would have guessed again, the Templar Knight requested that he deserved money for helping. Undoubtedly, the merchant was in fear as well and so he (though evidently reluctantly) handed over the five coins he had supposedly just regained, to the knight.

The crowd dispersed, the merchant nervously thanked the knight, and he too left. The intelligent Templar Knight had just gained himself five extra gold coins, beat an innocent man, and then when everyone left, let out a soft laugh. That was my cue to start my pursuit. It was my turn to create fear.

Men may have feared Templars, but I assure you, the Assassins were feared by all.

I stalked my prey from a far distant as an eagle stalks his with his keen eyes locked onto the target, rejecting the image of anything that appeared less than threatening. Nothing was to distract me from the Templar Knight, aimlessly walking, ignorant of my presence. As an Assassin, I never allowed anything to break the line of sight between me and my objective.

And soon, as I followed the knight for quite some time, I (and he) was reaching the exit of Jerusalem's central marketplace. The crowds were less crowded and the peril was less perilous. I was to make my move as the knight had passed into the alleyway to the immediate left of the market's exit. Presumably, he was in attempt to find another victim, but this time where he thought there would be no spectators.

He found no one, but someone found him. And that someone just so happened to seize his position through disabling his legs with a kick in the kneecaps and forceful clutches of both underarms.

While keeping my biceps and forearms sandwiched around the armpits of the Templar Knight, I reached my left hand up to his neck, right under his rusty, red helmet and ejected a narrow and long hidden blade from under my arm, traversing the bottom of my left palm, and up through the empty gap which was where my left ring finger once resided. From the gap, it stood the twice the length of my palm into the open, barely touching the neck of the knight. I tilted the edge of the blade and allowed it to ever so lightly tickle the fine hairs on the neck. Instantaneously, the knight whimpered as he realized the cold and disgusting sensation of the blade's metal had met his flesh.

At this point, the beginning of interrogation was imminent as the Templar began to increase his rate of breathing. I could tell that he was trying to escape my stranglehold but feared that any movement would prompt me to cease his breathing.

I began to speak silently, forming a darker and more frightening voice by instinct as I whispered close into his ear. "Where am I able to locate the Grand Master of the Knights Templar? _Your_ Grand Master."

There was a moment of silence.

"I…I believe that I am unaware of who you speak of…I…I operate on my own and I do not heed the – "

I pressed the flat surface of the blade onto his neck and tilted its position so that the edge began to penetrate his flesh ever so slightly. I gently slid the edge along his neck until I saw small drops of blood bleed out. The Templar Knight gave another whimper and flinched his body violently for a short period of time until I let out a grunt.

I asked, "Where is the Grand Master?"

"I…uh…ah…"

Time was not on my side and this knight was not saving me any. I needed the words from his mouth, and in order to acquire them, I had decided to take the thumb of my right hand, reach it up to his neck, and began scraping the bloody wound I had made while grotesquely enlarging it by pressing my hand in and out of the flesh opening. The knight screamed in excruciating pain, knocking his head and chest up and down in attempt to loosen my grip. His actions were futile. He was weakened by fear and was not even close to overpowering me.

I screamed, aware that no one was in the vicinity, "WHERE IS ROBERT DE SABLE! I ASSURE YOU, WRETCHED TEMPLAR KNIGHT, YOU WILL EXPERIENCE NO PEACEFUL DEATH IF YOU DEFY MY REQUEST!"

The knight tensed up his body and stressed his muscles, combating the pain in his neck, preparing to speak. "Ahhh! Please, please! He…the Grande Master…Robert. He resides in the cemetery to the north of our position. He is to attend the funeral of the slain Majd Addin."

The knight's neck twitched as he grinded his teeth and whispered, "And his death was most likely the doing of your kind."

He knew that he had spoken the wrong words. He closed his eyes shut and retracted his head, in fear of me hurting him any further. But then, he realized that pain was not what met him, but it was my chuckle.

I said, "I thank you. It seems that it is not difficult to extract words from you mouth."

The knight grunted and narrowed his stare on me, trying to use his peripheral to see my face. He was a tool that no longer had a purpose."

"A peaceful death. You have earned that for your help." I released my grip entirely and let his arms and body free. He had no chance to turn himself around before I penetrated his heart from his back through to the front of his body with the blade under my hand. He lasted a few seconds before dying. "You will see your master soon." These were the last words he heard.

Quite fortunately for me, there happened to be a large stack of hay that was positioned near a bush in the alley I was in. I scanned the area to make sure no one had seen my act of murder, then I towed the dead Templar body towards the hay and buried it. It was a very effective cover, and I would surely have been long gone before anyone searched the pile.

The cemetery north of here. According to my memory, it should not have been far away. The gateway leading to the area of the cemetery was near blacksmith's shop, often with an open window and metal tools on display. Now back in the alley, I readjusted the positioning of my hood to shadow most of my face, and walked back out onto the streets. I saw a large number of people walking in the same direction I was so it was very likely that they intended to attend the funeral at the cemetery as well. This was a positive for me.

The crowd allowed me to become a member of them. I manipulated my movement to follow the path of the citizens as we made a left turn around the corner of a guard tower, a right one around a church, and then passed a fish stand. My eye first caught sight of the blacksmith shop before I realized I had already arrived at the cemetery.

Of course, there were soldiers guarding the cemetery. It was, after all, a funeral attended by the Grand Master of the Knights Templar, not to mention that the service was for the death of the well-known Majd Addin. But because the guards knew of the large number of people who would come, they actually stood aside as the group of hundreds of people entered the contrastingly building-less, non-cobbled, grassy green cemetery and slipped me inside as well with no attention gathered whatsoever.

I slowly and gently pushed my way up to the third row of the crowd of people so that I could see the funeral commence. At the far end of the cemetery, near Jerusalem's walls, was where seven Templar Knights were standing, in an oval, surrounding one large tombstone with an old man in the centre behind the stone.

And, what was this? A Templar Knight, one who was elegantly caped with an usually well-ornamented sword sheath and a bolder and more traditional red cross on the fabrics covering his chainmail than the other knight stood out from the crowd and marched towards the old man in the centre. He had armour plating on his forearms and his legs. I had not noticed him before, but as he kept awkwardly silent, as if standing out for no apparent reason, I had identified him. This type of unique body armour was only worn by the Knights Templar's Grand Master. And this meant he was my target, my rival, the one whom my master and I have sworn to slay – Robert de Sable.

The old man spoke with a confident, clear voice, "today, we gather to mourn the loss of our beloved Majd Addin. Indeed he was taken too soon from this world and we all feel sorrow and pain at his passing. But truthfully, we should not. Because it is only natural for us to pass from this world as we are born from the womb, just like the rising and the setting of the sun. And now, please take this moment to reflect on all good that he offered us and know that one day, we will stand again with him in paradise."

The entire crowd lowered their heads and closed their eyes, praying, including the Knights Templar. Then after a moment of silence, quickly, one by one, all of the heads raised and spoke "amen" at similar times.

Up until now, Robert was still in my line of vision and I narrowed my stare at his locked position with the precision of an eagle's vision. Up until now, the funeral had been what was regular and the usual. But up to now, no one had moved expect for Robert. And now, he moved again.

It was quite strange, what he did, leaving me pondering and puzzled. Robert de Sable walked closer to the old man and leaned his head forward, undoubtedly whispering a message. Then, very abruptly, he pointed his finger, once, then twice, at two of the knights standing around the tombstone. The knights then repositioned themselves and changed the oval formation into a line. It was as if they were defending the tombstone, or even preparing for battle. Everyone in the crowd spoke and mumbled, looking around, trying to determine the cause of such actions.

The old man began, "As you all know, Majd Addin was murdered. We have tried to track his killer, but it has proved difficult." He then paused after speaking with a firmer and louder voice then he did before. Then said, as the knights, along with Robert, shifted around a bit more, "These creatures, they claim to the shadows and run from all those who fight them fairly." After that line, a back, wooden door on a wall behind the cemetery swung open, and more Templar Knights marched out, filling in the gaps between the original seven knights. They stood still and serious. The man continued, "But NOT today! For it seems he stand among us. He mocks us with his presence! – And must be made to pay!" He then raised his voice to the extreme. "SEIZE HIM! BRING HIM FORWARD, SO THAT GOD'S JUSTICE MAY BE DONE!"

Twelve swords unsheathed in unison and twelve knights charged with fury at my position. The crowd was in fear, panic distress. They all ran from the cemetery as blades of death and helmeted demons swarmed at me. The accursed Robert de Sable appeared from behind the line of knights as the other eleven surrounded me. He waited not and raised his sword and slashed at my neck. It almost severed my head, but I ducked. He then attempted to overwhelm me with his giant armour by towering over my crouched duck, and then grabbed me hard by the wrist, nearly draining my right hand's blood. I was unable to escape, thus he took this chance and raised his sword, aiming to stab my chest.

Although I was immobile, my left arm remained free. In the split second Robert's blade came down, I released the short blade from my back and blocked the strike that was an arm's width from my heart. Robert de Sable was momentarily stunned by my unexpected agility. I held his weapon at bay, creating a deafening screech of metal against metal, until I devised my plan. I could so Robert's hand shake as he was trying to overpower my block. I released by short blade and let his sword fall, but as it did, I utilized his grab on my right hand as a pivot point to twist my body 90 degrees so that his sword would fall to the ground instead. Because I suddenly let go, Robert almost stumbled to the ground but managed to break the fall by pushing the point of the sword against it. I took this moment to quickly twist my body back and dig my short blade into his left palm, releasing his grab on me as crimson, red blood bled down his arm.

The surrounding Templar Knights knew Robert de Sable was in need of aid, so they forgot about their Grand Master's pride and charged at me, all at once, as if on cue. Since I was now mobile again, I pushed hard on the ground with my legs and jumped to dodge the swing of on knight. I then kicked the knight who attempted to attack me in mid-air, directly on his face, then landed my feet on his head, most likely broken his neck in the process from the shock. The knights behind were not far, and since I had no time to turn and run, I opted to unsheathe my own sword and deflect two consecutive strikes, both of which made a high-pitched metallic cling. A third slash followed, but since this knight had raised his sword quite high, I stopped it in its path with ease above my head before it had gained strength and speed. I then tilted my own blade at angle, using the edge to push his entire sword in a semi-circle towards the ground, finishing with a punch in his stomach.

Before any other attacks were dealt at me, I turned my back and ran, my legs in constant motion, my arms pushing any citizen in my path. As I would have thought, the knights, including Robert, began their chase. I led the herd of rampaging Templar Knights into the city streets in hope of slowing then down or even losing sight of me through the tight crowds. But since they were so eager to hunt me, it seemed that they did not care of the citizens and simply threw them aside as I did. My purpose was not to escape since my target was still alive, but it was to lead them to a greater height, giving me an advantage. I was skilled in the art of the eagle. Heights were my territory.

I ran without losing any momentum for minutes to tire the knights. They had heavy armour to bring along while I had a cloak. My eyes spotted a ladder that reached a two-storey rooftop and the knights followed as I climbed. Perfect.

A climb after a long run while dragging chainmail had worn the Templars quite some bit. And with Robert de Sable already weakened in addition to his extra amour plating, he was obviously the most exhausted.

I positioned myself in the centre of the roof and purposely awaited all the knights to reach the top as well. Because the roof was fairly narrow, only two to three knights could have attacked me at once. The first to try ending my life ended his own as I rejected his sword's weaker central ridge with the strong fuller of my sword. He fell back after a push, hitting the knight who was behind. I grabbed the fabrics on his chest before he fell on his back and threw him off the roof to the left with my free hand, then pierced the knight who had fallen behind him in the heart. There were nine knights left. Robert was at the furthest back, recovering from his fatigue and the pain on his stabbed hand.

At this point, I decided to resume my run. I returned my sword to its scabbard turned my back again and jumped from the current roof to the lower one behind. It was a considerable distance, but I grabbled the ledge with my arms and pulled up my body instantly. The knights, obviously having lost their logic and consumed by frustration, tried to fly as an eagle does but realized that a snake must remain on the ground. They were close to me, but even closer to death. Two more had died.

I was finally at a distance when the remaining seven knights were struggling to find a way to reach me. I now could make use of my long-range weaponry – throwing knives. Three knights on the previous rooftop who were glaring at me were in my direct line of slight. I tried my best to keep my motions discrete and reached my left hand near three narrow pockets strapped to my back, each containing a short, but sharp knife. Using the three spaces between the only four fingers I had on my left hand, I pulled out all three knives and released them in a split second towards my three marked targets. A reaction was nearly impossible.

I had to say, because I had not been using these knives for some time, I had lost skill. One knife hit the heart of the knight on the left, one hit the head of the knight in the middle, but the knight on right was only penetrated in the stomach. I would have much rather had him dead instead of shrieking in pain.

With only three Templar Knights left between me and Robert, they were in much fear. They began to step back and whisper to one another like they were trying to plan an escape. I could not have allowed that to happen. With all the strength I had, I jumped back to the roof the four Templars were on. Although they could have attacked, they were in such a mixed state of surprise and fear that I had returned, they waited at least three seconds before acting. Now that I not at a far range, they knew my throwing knives would not be effective. Two of the knights entered a combat stance, swords pointed at me, but did not attack, while the third stayed behind to defend Robert de Sable.

In their state of fear, I did not hesitate. I crossed my arms, the left reaching the right side of my back to grab the short blade, and the right releasing my sword on my left waist. I sprinted at the two knights and they automatically extended their blades in defence. With both my weapons at full length on either side of my body, I lowered my head and arms below the knights' swords, ran through the space between the two figures, but did not go far pass them as I allowed my armed hands to lock me in place as they were halted by the chests of the knights that now had blades protruding from their backs.

There was but one foe left protecting Robert who was unable to properly hold a weapon from the wound. This last knight was brave. He unforeseeably rotated his body a full circle, swinging his sword with his greatest strength with both arms towards my chest cavity. I managed to perform a block manoeuvre but since I had little time to do so, I was blown back several steps and lost my poise. He took this opportunity to grab me and throw me from the roof, but I returned his grab with a punch in the jaws and a firm kick in his kneecap. I then tried to pull him by his chainmail and throw him into the streets, but I was unaware that he still had his arm clutching onto my cloak.

He pulled me along as he fell from the roof underneath me. My instincts acted immediately as I slid down against the wall of the building as I fell. I seized a window by its sill and the eagle's adrenaline empowered my arms. Astonishingly, the Templar Knight had delayed his death by grabbing my left leg.

I raised my free leg and stepped on his head thrice, twisting his neck and releasing his clutch. He fell to his death.

With his body, along with those of the other knights who fell dead, I could hear the citizens' screams and gasps. I climbed back up. Robert de Sable was in clear view. He stared at me, as if I had just returned from the dead, then jumped on the ladder behind him and began climbing down, his bleeding hand twitching as he did. As he was half way down, I kicked the ladder and watched him fall.

I jumped from the roof, grabbing an alcove when I reached the height of one storey, then continued my descend. Robert was not only alive, but also faintly conscious. The one-storey high impact with aid from his armour had left him with nothing fatal. I ignored the citizens who were in fear, but unfortunately, it seemed that multiple guards had corned me against a wall. I grasped onto Robert's helmet and threatened to murder him if the guards attacked. As I did this, I used the hilt of my sword as a blunt instrument and knocked on the helmet of Robert, loosening it. I then removed his helmet to place my knife upon his throat.

Yet I did not. I found my heart sink in unexplainable anger. I found my mind in denial of what my eyes were feeding it.

I found a woman behind the helmet.


End file.
